U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell is praising Senate passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, legislation aimed at expanding housing supply and strengthening federal programs designed to address the nation’s affordable housing shortage.
Cantwell, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, said the legislation could help ease housing challenges facing communities across the country.
“The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act will go a long way in helping tackle the affordable housing crisis we are confronting in our states,” Cantwell said. “This legislation will expand housing supply by streamlining and modernizing critical federal affordable housing programs. It builds on the strong bipartisan work we have done to expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) by increasing the statutory cap limiting banks’ public welfare investment authority, which will unlock additional equity for LIHTC properties and other economic revitalization projects.”
Cantwell added that the bill also strengthens several federal housing initiatives.
“The bill also makes important enhancements to HUD and USDA housing programs and enhances the flexibility of the HOME Investment Partnerships program,” Cantwell said. “As the bill now heads back to the House, I look forward to delivering a strong housing package for the President to sign.”
The legislation addresses several housing policy areas and includes provisions designed to increase housing supply, reform existing housing programs and expand access to financing for affordable housing development.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the measure contains eight major sections covering issues such as housing supply, manufactured housing, federal rental assistance programs, oversight of housing agencies and support for veterans experiencing housing challenges.
The bill arrives as housing affordability continues to be a growing concern in Washington state and across the nation.
A recent report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that a full-time worker in Washington must earn an hourly “housing wage” of $41.11 to afford the average fair market rent of $2,138 for a two-bedroom apartment. This means that a household in Washington state would need to earn about $85,501 a year to afford the average two-bedroom rent without spending more than 30 percent of income on housing and utilities. The housing wage calculation assumes a full-time worker earning wages for 40 hours a week year-round.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, developers and landlords in Washington state often cannot build or operate rental homes at prices affordable to these households because the rents they can afford to pay are not enough to cover the costs of building and operating the properties.
Cantwell has long advocated for expanding affordable housing opportunities and is one of the Senate’s leading supporters of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.
In April 2025, Cantwell introduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, legislation designed to expand the LIHTC program and increase the number of affordable homes built in the United States. The bipartisan bill had 30 original cosponsors, evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, and elements of the legislation were included in the July 2025 reconciliation package.
Cantwell previously introduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act in 2021 and again in 2023 alongside U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene. The effort helped build a bipartisan coalition supporting expanded housing investment.
During the last Congress, Cantwell’s legislation was backed by 308 members of Congress, representing roughly 58 percent of the House and Senate combined, including 170 Democrats and 139 Republicans.
